


hold the wheel and drive

by mxjules



Series: Tsukishima Kei Week 2020 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, TsukkiBdayWeek2020, mild driving anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26556751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxjules/pseuds/mxjules
Summary: tsukishima kei needs to learn how to drive, and kuroo tetsurou is more than happy to teach himday one: moon / street light / neon
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Tsukishima Kei Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931359
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62
Collections: TsukkiBdayWeek2020





	hold the wheel and drive

**Author's Note:**

> nk, thank you for motivating me

Day One - moon / street light /  ~~ neon ~~

Tsukishima Kei doesn’t want to call it anxiety, but he knows that the level of stress he feels when he thinks about getting behind a wheel isn’t exactly. . . normal.

He’s in his last year of high school, though, and he doesn’t want to leave for the college in Tokyo that he recently got accepted to without learning how to drive. He  _ could _ simply take busses and trains when necessary— he is lucky enough to live somewhere with comprehensive public transportation, after all— but Akiteru told him that he’s been saving for a new car, and that he’s planning on giving Kei his old, beat up Toyota as a graduation gift. Kei is thankful for the opportunity for independence, surely, but he’s still working his way up to being comfortable enough to handle being on the road.

Somehow, he’s found himself in an abandoned parking lot with none other than one Kuroo Tetsurou, and not for the first time. Kuroo takes it upon himself to drive to Miyagi, every other weekend, just to help Kei to be more comfortable when he’s in the driver’s seat. By now, Kei knows that his protests of  _ ‘its fine, Kuroo-san,’  _ and ‘ _ I’ll learn from my brother when he has the time, Kuroo-san,’  _ would fall on deaf ears, so he’s learned not to complain  _ too _ much when Kuroo arrives on his doorstep with a crooked smile that matches the crooked mirrors on his boxy little Honda he picks Kei up with.

The first time they tried this didn’t exactly go well. Kuroo insisted that it was fine, but Kei was still embarrassed that he could do little more than hold his shaky hands to the steering wheel and hold back his frustrated tears that threatened to spill. He was disappointed that Kuroo drove nearly five hours just to watch him nearly fall apart at the seams over something so trivial.

“It’s okay, Tsukki.” Kuroo’s warm, reassuring palm burned itself into his memory from where it rested on his above his left knee. “We’ll just hang out like this until you’re more used to the driver’s seat. I’m really here to see you, anyway.”

Whatever.

Now, Kuroo has been up to visit eight times— not that Kei is counting— and Kei is doing much, much better. Not the best, admittedly, but he can start the engine, put the car in drive, and avoid the lampposts in the parking lot that pour out a soft yellow light onto the cracked asphalt. He can even park in between the faded lines of the parking lot without too much trouble. His hands don’t even shake, and his palms don’t even sweat.

“Y’know, Tsukki, it’s pretty late. There shouldn’t be any traffic, so why don’t you try driving just around the block?”

Scratch that, palms might as well be leaking like a faucet.

He couldn’t quite straighten his face quick enough, it seems, and Kuroo chuckles a bit at the way he stiffens.

“You don’t  _ have _ to, obviously. But you can do it, and now is a pretty good time to start.”

Kei scoffs. He’s also sort of bored of this parking lot, anyway, but he doesn’t need to admit that out loud. 

“Of course I can do it, I never said that I can’t.”

This earns him another chuckle as he drives away from the familiar lot and towards the driveway leading out to a sleepy main street. He schools his breathing, and reminds himself that he’s smart, and capable, and has no reason to be nervous.

It works, mostly.

“Of course, Tsukki.” Kuroo’s tone has a tender lilt to it that annoyed Kei at first, but somehow doesn’t bother him as much anymore. “If you want, you can always pull over as long as it’s safe, and I’ll drive the rest of the way.” He pokes at Kei’s left cheek, which puffs out in exasperation. “And remember to use your turn indicator.”

“I already  _ know _ that, Kuroo-san.”

He rolls his eyes as he flips the blinker on, looks both ways, and pulls out to the left. He’s probably driving ten kilometres below the speed limit, but he can’t tell, given the unreasonable beat of his heart hammering against his rib cage. The streetlights pass by overhead, and he tries not to get distracted by them. Kuroo’s hand on his knee helps to ground him, though, and he can’t help the little smirk that’s made its way onto his face against his permission. 

He’s  _ driving. _

“Now, Tsukki, when you’re driving, you’re not looking at the car in front of you.” Kuroo gestures to the empty road ahead of them, as if he doesn’t realize there's not another vehicle in sight. “You’re looking  _ beyond _ that, through the windshields of the other drivers, so you can see anything that’s up ahead of you. You want to be cautious and prepared, so you don’t have to worry about what comes next.”

Kei is actually thrilled that he’s made it this far, flicking his blinker on again as he approaches the first turn, and can’t help the trademark snark that sneaks out.

“Sure,  _ dad _ . Like you haven’t already told me that about a million times already.”

Eternally good-natured as he is, Kuroo just beams. “Can’t hurt to hear it about a million more, y’know. Now, when you make your turns, you slow way down beforehand, and press the gas again when you’re coming out of it. You don’t want to still be breaking while you’re making the turn itself, so make sure you’re ready for that.”

Kei does what he’s told without any trouble or backtalk. Of course, everything is going smoothly, and Kei reaches to turn up the radio. It’s an older American [song](https://open.spotify.com/track/7nnWIPM5hwE3DaUBkvOIpy?si=Bkaaw7f_QXKOfTCueuojng), one he has memorized, and he can’t help but chuckle at how natural everything feels for him now. All of his built-up worries have melted, and he knows it’s going to be easier from here on out.

Something about being around Kuroo makes him feel that he can do anything. 

“Kuroo-san,” Kei speaks softly, turning his head slightly so he can look at Kuroo out of the corner of his eye without the glasses getting in the way, “I’ve been accepted to a couple different universities.”

Kuroo visibly brightens at this, and Kei’s heart starts to beat faster for another reason entirely. 

“Of course you did! I bet a nerd like you got accepted to every university you applied to.” Kuroo lightly bumps a congratulatory fist into Kei’s left arm, so as not to jostle his hold on the wheel.

Kei smirks. “Well, yeah. I’m not at the top of my class without reason, you know.” He gets even more smug, somehow, as he makes the next turn. “I’m thinking about attending the University of Tokyo.”

If Kuroo were drinking water, the way he sputters would have been a picturesque spit-take.

“And they’ve offered me a volleyball scholarship.”   
  
He’s expecting the near inhuman screech that leaves Kuroo’s lips, but he still can’t help but startle a little bit.

“Tsukki!” Kuroo is  _ just _ this side of yelling now, “You can’t tell me something like this when I shouldn’t be distracting you! Pull over!”

“What? Kuroo-san, I—”

“Pull over! Pull over!”

“Fine!”

They’ve almost looped back to the parking lot they left from, but he still abides by Kuroo’s request, pulling to the side and pressing the button for the flashing hazard lights. The second that the car is in park, Kuroo all but flies out of the passenger seat, running around the car and pulling Kei out of the driver’s seat before he even has a chance to think.

He’s lucky, he ponders to himself, that it’s so late at night. It would be quite the spectacle to the average passerby to see some tall young man in the middle of the street, holding someone somehow even taller, and twirling in a circle like some bad American romantic comedy.

Although, if he really thinks about it, maybe Kei is simply lucky, full stop.

Kuroo is laughing, out of breath as he sets Kei back down on his own two feet, and Kei realizes that he’s laughing, too. Kuroo brings one hand up and brushes Kei’s hair back behind his ear, his touch impossibly feather-light. Between this, and the full moon bathing them in pale light, Kei wonders if he might be in a dream.

“I’m proud of you, moonshine. You work so hard, and it’s all going to pay off.”

Kei’s smile is soft in return.

“Thank you,” he nearly whispers, “but can we  _ please _ get out of the street and stop acting like lunatics?”

Kuroo barks his signature ugly laugh before pushing Kei by his shoulders back towards the driver’s seat. 

“Sure thing, Tsukki. Let’s get out of here.” He walks back around the car to hop into the passenger seat. He speaks again once he’s buckled, “Since you’re the perfect student, as always, how about we stop somewhere for milkshakes on the way back?”   
  


Kei pretends that he’s thinking, because he can never be too eager, of course. “I guess, but I want strawberry.”

Kuroo laughs, and Kei realizes he’ll probably get to hear it much more often in person in the not-so-distant future.

“Anything for you. You fly, I’ll buy.” 

Kei laughs as he pulls back onto the road. 

He’s definitely more than lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> Yell at me on [twitter!](https://twitter.com/mxjulesdawn)
> 
> Thank you for reading. I appreciate you immensely. <3


End file.
